


Balcony of the Setting Sun

by TricksterFairyMello



Series: A Constellation of Hearts (Kirby AU) [1]
Category: Hoshi no Kaabii | Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby (Video Games), Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Build, im super fucking desperate for metadede content, the father-son stuff is between Meta Knight and Kirby as well as King Dedede and Bandana Dee btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2019-10-10 15:12:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17428349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TricksterFairyMello/pseuds/TricksterFairyMello
Summary: Before the king of Dreamland, stood a knight from a faraway galaxy wanting to work for him. It was like seeing the childhood heroes from his favorite fairytales come to life. Over the years, the unlikely duo would bond with each other at the king's balcony, sharing their mad adventures, frequent spats, secrets, and heart-to-hearts, and eventually become something just a little more than just best friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first ever fanfic, which will be the first in a series of other Kirby-related fanfics and one-shots within my own AU. I hope you enjoy, feedback will be greatly appreciated!
> 
> This fanfiction's universe is a combination of the anime+games, with the anime being a prequel. As such, some events will have some differences with the canon, but i might also deviate a little from both canons a little from time to time

“Allow me to introduce ourselves. My name is Meta Knight. These are my two comrades, Sword Knight and Blade Knight” The two knights that the dark blue clad visitor introduced, one in green armour and one in purple, bowed before King Dedede. “We are here because we would like to work under your command.”

The king looked down at the mysterious figures that stood in front of his throne. The leader of the bunch wore a grey mask that obscured his face, and wrapped himself around a blue cloth like a bat would. Who does that, anyway? The round figure of this man that Dedede was able to make out, despite being under wraps, was not uncommon in Dreamland or even Popstar, yet he’s never seen anything like it. Was he from another planet? Dedede has never seen extraterrestrials visit Dreamland in all the one thousand years he’s known this place, especially not ones who fills the room with a gallant aura like the knights in the storybooks his servants read to him as a child.

The king’s servant, Escargoon, was also puzzled by the strange men who summoned themselves here. Instead of curiosity, he glared at the so-called knights with suspicion and distraught.

He yelled at Meta Knight, “Now you just wait a minute! You think you can just waltz in here, not even telling us where you’re from or showing your faces, all over clothed like that, and expect us to hire shady people like you?” More than anything, Escargoon was intimidated, and didn’t know what would make a guy like him lash out at King Dedede, or even worse, himself! And perhaps his hunch was right, the two faceless warriors who stood next to their leader looked at each other, as if they were irritated by that comment.

“Hold your horses, Escargoon. Let him talk.” King Dedede said with a suspiciously calmer tone than usual.

“Now then, tell me about yourself. Where ya from?” He slouched back against his throne, highly interested to know more about the masked visitor.

“That is a question i cannot answer, not only for the sake of my own safety, but for yours as well.” Meta Knight said with a matter-of-factly tone, saying the words as if he’s practiced them before, but this just peaked the king’s interest even more.

“Are you implying that I, King Dedede, the Great King of Dreamland, the undefeated, undisputed boxing champion in all of Popstar, am in danger?” Dedede began to act haughty, challenging this visitor to see if he’s able to prove his worth. He was even more excited than ever, which made Escargoon more than just a little worried. Who knows what irrational decisions the king will make when his emotions start getting in the way?

“While i do not want to undermine your achievements, yes, i do believe Dreamland has the risk of encountering a great threat. Especially so that this enemy might threaten the very thing that keeps the peace within Popstar’s residents, the dreams of the people” The knight thought he had to bring this king’s arrogance down a peg, because he doesn’t seem to truly grasp the potential danger looming over his own castle.

King Dedede and Escargoon turned around, whispering to each other. “Sire, i’m not sure if we can trust them. An enemy who threatens the dreams of the people? That’s a Floralia-high tale if i ever heard of one!” Escargoon looks over his shoulder to the knight that hasn’t moved a twitch ever since he first stood in that spot. He feels uncomfortable looking directly at his gaze.

Dedede grabbed Escargoon’s head and turned it back around like a corkscrew. “Nawww, i think he’s just a mysterious fella. He looks so cool though! Can’t we bring him into the army, pleeeease? It’ll be a chance for us to see a REAL knight now, with a code of honor and everything! Not like those posers we have around here!” The King’s eyes gleamed, thinking of the epic battles the knights in his fairytales have fought. Perhaps these knights was no different?

“But sire, he could be very well full of of balo-”

“You shut your mouth” He squeezed Escargoon’s lips shut. “I mean, if the worst case scenario ever happens, having this guy will help, right?” Dedede said, though truthfully he wasn’t afraid of this “threat” nor does he really care.

After reaching to a conclusion, the King and his lackey turned back to Meta Knight. “Alright then, you’re hired! Make us proud, aight?” Dedede gave a thumbs up to the knights, who thought his attitude was rather embarrassing for a grown man AND a king.

“AXE! JAVELIN! MACE! TRIDENT!” Escargoon called some of the army’s most formidable warriors. Four knights with varying weapons rushed before King Dedede.

“Some of our knights will show you to the knight’s quarters. They’ll also be giving you a tour of the castle, so you better stick it in your skull, because you’ll never know when His Majesty will be needing you” Escargoon explained, still not thrilled with the negotiation’s results.

“I thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty” With a bow to Dreamland’s king, Meta Knight, Blade Knight and Sword Knight then followed the four knights lead to the knight’s quarters.

Dedede could hear the jangling sound of Meta Knight’s shoes as he walked away. He was  _ very _ interested in paying close attention to his army’s latest recruits.

**\---------**

As they walked through the halls of the quarters, which were larger than Meta Knight thought for an army serving such a peaceful country, he noticed how unkempt the place was. There were some corners that were covered with thick layers of dust or moss, trash littered the place and vulgar writing were scrawled on the walls, and from somewhere, Meta Knight could hear a group of people partying.

“Oh, before anything, we’d really like to thank you for showing us around” said the purple armored knight, attempting to break the ice. “The name’s Sword Knight, my buddy here is Blade Knight, and our big man here is Sir Meta Knight! He’s very powerful”

“From now, we hope that we are able to fight valiantly alongside each other, as comrades under the King” Blade Knight chimed in.

“Yeah yeah, whatever” One of the knights, who wore a viking helmet didn’t care for all these formalities, he just wanted to get this over with so he can get to the real fun. “So, ya said that your leader there was strong huh?” he looked back at them, with a sinister twinkle in his eye.

Sword Knight’s mood lifted, and Blade sensed a tangent incoming. “Are you kidding me? I could go on and on about Sir Meta Knight’s battles! Like for example, did you know his sword was-”

“Silence, ragged-headed one” Declared the red knight with a crescent on his helmet. “Mere talk is pointless, we shall test your true capabilities in battle.”

“Test?” Meta Knight who’s eyes were darting all over the place earlier, now was cautious of the group before him. He could guess what they were planning, and whispered to Blade and Sword Knight to prepare for the worst.

They walked a little further until they reached a large door. Swinging them open with a heavy creak, the group looked over the soldiers who seemed to have trashed the place. There were a few actual knights here and there, but most of the army’s soldiers seem to be those innocent-looking, round orange creatures that Meta Knight saw on the way to the castle. They all stared at the visitor’s direction, especially so at the new recruits.

The viking helmet warrior stepped into the middle room and declared with his arms open, “Fellas, the mess hall” Blade Knight could see how it was the mess hall from more ways than one, as it seems that the center of the party was right here.

“NOW...AS-PER-TRADITION-OF-THE-DREAMLAND-ARMY” announced the floating red knight with a robotic voice. The four knights drew their weapons. “WE-CHALLENGE-ALL-THREE-OF-YOU-TO-A-DUEL”

“Wait, but why? I thought we were to fight alongside each other, not against ourselves!” Blade Knight was shocked at how quickly their hosts and new comrades turned against him, though then again, he thought, they never talked much on the way here anyway.

“What is there to fight here anyway? it’s too damn quiet in this country because almost nothing ever attacks the village or the castle! So, to satisfy our itch for action, we’d usually fight some poor fella unfortunate enough to come work under that royal doofus, and then, we would keep beating, and beating, and beating…” The viking knight, now holding an axe, started thinking of all the possible moves he could sicc on the newcomers.

The crowd was starting to get riled up, space was being cleared to give room for the duelists, and there were even a few people taking bets. This wasn’t good, it seemed like a fight is inevitable. And being outnumbered by 3 vs 4, nonetheless. By the way they look, these guys don’t have much of a code of honor.

Meta Knight let go of the sides of the cape that covered him up and let them fall to the side. Analyzing the possible potential of these brutes and coming up with a quick strategy, he whispered to Blade and Sword. “Blade, you take out of the flying one holding the javelin. Sword, deal with the trident-wielding one. I shall deal with the rest”

“Heheheh, prepare to get crushed by the mace grinder!” The rather large knight with a deeper voice released the chain of his weapon from it’s handle. The three new recruits braced themselves for the worst.

“GET EM, BOYS!” The viking knight declared with a battle cry, and soon enough the four knights charged against the three new knights. Meta Knight, Sword Knight and Blade Knight split right before the large knight’s mace crashed into the door behind them. 

Using the jet on his back, the trident-wielding knight dashed at Blade knight, clashing with his sword. The crescent knight released electric shock waves that conducted into Blade’s sword, then threw him in the air, and he threw his trident at the green knight which sent him crashing into the wall. Then, he threw a few more tridents at him for good measure, but as the smoke cleared, the green rascal was nowhere to be found. Suddenly he felt a weight fell onto his back, and began to have a hard time controlling his flying. Blade knight struggled against the jet-powered warrior as they flew around the hall erratically, before Blade Knight jumped off his back just before his ride crashed into a bunch of benches and tables, and a few watchers who weren’t quick enough to evade in time.

Sword Knight was having a hard time following the movements of this U.F.Oe circling around him. Then, the flying knight produced a javelin out of thin air, and threw it at the purple knight’s back. Sword managed to dodge it in the nick of time, but soon had to deflect a barrage of more javelins shot at him. No matter where he moved, it seems like strange knight could follow his every step. Then, he decided to take a risk, and quickly jumped at one of the tables, and shot himself right into the floating fighter, slashing their face and sending them falling below.

Meta Knight was able to deflect the large axe the viking knight ruthlessly charged at him. Despite his short stature, his strength was not to be underestimated, Meta thought. Then, the brute blue knight threw his mace at the both of them, and it flew right past just after the two fighters dodged the attack.

“Don’t chuck that thing at me ya big dolt!” the skull-faced knight yelled at his ally. Now that the masked warrior was far away, the vulgar viking had to throw his axe at him. What he didn’t expect, was for his foe to transform his cape into a pair of bat wings and dodge his attack. Now without a weapon, Meta Knight was able to find an opening and mach tornado’ed at both the red viking and the mace-wielding brute in one single strike. Then, Meta Knight quickly jumped backwards. 

The mace brute, brushing the rubble and food leftovers off of him, grabbed the axe-wielding viking and threw him at Meta Knight, who stepped to the side to avoid the living projectile. “Oops, well that didn’t work” the brute realized. He then swung his chained weapon above his head like a lasso, and once it reached high speed, he threw the spiked ball at the bat-winged warrior. With his immense strength, Meta Knight was able to deflect the mace ball to the side, which then kept circling around the brute until it wrapped around him. 

Already defeated, Meta Knight, Sword Knight, and Blade Knight rounded up their beaten up foes. Meta Knight pointed his sword at them. “I do not mind a sudden fight to test my own capabilities, but you lot have the nerve to prey on the weak who take their first steps into these quarters in hopes of achieving their goals and dreams as a warrior of the King, breaking down their morale, all for the sake of getting a kick out of punching down? You should all be ashamed of calling yourselves soldiers.”

Axe Knight, who snapped back into consciousness, quickly stood up and kneeled before the three formidable warriors. The other three knights bowed deeply at them to, including Mace Knight, despite still being wrapped up in chains. “W-we’re sorry sir! Truly we are blinded and foolish in our ways! O great knight, please let us train under you!” 

A few floors above them, the penguin king and his snail subordinate watched the entire event unfold through the king’s giant monitor. Escargoon’s jaw dropped, as it seemed like his suspicions about the knights were true after all, and Dedede could never be more thrilled from what he just witnessed.

“Escargoon! ESCARGOON!” Dedede violently shook Escargoon’s shoulders. “THEY’RE THE REAL DEAL! AHAHAHAHAHA!!” He was so delighted he jumped up and down, the most exercise he ever did in three years. He was so glad that he trusted his gut on this one, and couldn’t wait what this Meta Knight fellow would do next.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that he and his two loyal followers were now a part of King Dedede's army, it was time for them to think of a plan to counterattack Nightmare if he ever came back. But even on his second day here already, Meta Knight comes across some complications that may help or ruin his plan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to update! School was making me busy again haha. Also, this chapter is way shorter than the last one i wrote, because i was debating with myself on whether or not the next part should be part of this chapter or the next one, but then i thought i was going to save it for later, i may have a few change of plans in the story. Enjoy!

Meta Knight got his own room in the quarters, while Blade and Sword Knight got a room together right next to his. It was the first day after they were hired as Dedede’s knights and the duel against those ragtag punks, who didn’t seem like they’ll ever be attacking them again. In fact, they’ve been acting very respectful around the three knights, much to the slight embarrassment of Blade and Sword Knight, though Meta Knight felt right at home to be respected again around here.

Now that he was here, he had to start acting. Their battle against Nightmare was able to hold him back with the injuries he’s suffered, but without something like the Heart Spears to seal away that eldritch otherworldly being that he and his crazy cult have been worshipping, it won’t be long he’ll be back to finish the job and wipe out the last remaining Star Warriors, especially with technology as advanced as his. From the remaining scrolls belonging to The Ancients, he was able to locate which planet the legendary Star Rod was hidden, a magical staff containing the power of light, Nightmare’s greatest weakness. Though, by Nova, he wasn’t sure  _ where _ exactly on this planet was the Star Rod located, as the clues given were rather vague. If he cannot find the Star Rod in time,  he had to prepare for plan B, which is to utilize Popstar’s military strength to fight him off this planet, or at least, hold him back long enough until the residents could escape…

Meta Knight examined the knight’s quarters further. There was a decent amount of weapons in the armory, but the variety of weapons could use some improvement. Most of the weapons consisted of spears, which isn’t a problem on it’s own, but that meant a majority of the soldiers working under Dedede were those Waddle Dees, the round orange residents who’s job is to primarily perform the king’s menial orders. While he knew that strength and skill cannot be judged by looks alone, he saw their commander, Waddle Doo, leading the Waddle Dees for their daily training, they couldn’t even stop properly and would often bump into each other...bless their hearts, but there was no way they could take on even Nightmare’s lowest grade monsters.

It seemed as if the star warrior had to take matters into his own hands. The first order of business, of course, was to vigorously train the troops here so that they could at least be as capable as the Star Warriors, and perhaps he could do that if he was able to gain the respect of the soldiers here and work his way up the ranks. He was already off to a good start with the group of knights he fought yesterday. But even then, Dedede’s army doesn’t have a lot of men, and not a lot of Popstar’s laid-back, pudgy residents are willing to take up arms. Such is the curse of a faraway, obscure planet with almost nothing to harm them. 

After looking through every nook and cranny of the quarters, and perhaps nearly the entire castle, another idea dawned on the midnight warrior. What Dreamland’s military is also lacking in is technology. Canons, tanks, warships, etc. But perhaps with the natural resources here, he could possibly build a weaponized airship that will be enough to cover Dreamland’s lack in modern weaponry. He has the skills to create such war machines, after all he a combat engineer in the Galaxy Star Warrior alliance. But the costs would be maddening, and he couldn’t just go up and ask the king to fund this...or perhaps he could, if he could get close and  _ persuade _ him. Yes, that’s it, If he could get close to the king, perhaps he would be more willing to let him build this hypothetical airship.

Meta Knight walked through the king’s halls to give the king his greetings and thank him for taking him in as a part of the army. That would be a good start. As he looked to his surroundings of the castle halls, he noticed a lot of imagery of the king, whether it’s on statues, on exaggerated paintings, wall motifs and carvings, and even on the bathroom doors. He wasn’t too pleased to realize he’ll have to get close to a narcissist, but that could potentially make the persuasion easier if he ended up praising the king a lot.

Just then, from the end of the hall, which Meta Knight recognized as the way to the king’s throne, there was a rather bright light coming from the area. Taking a peek from a corner of the wall, carefully hiding in the shadows as not to be seen, Meta Knight saw something that made him lose respect for the king even more. 

“Well, Triple D, today you seem as chipper as a woodpecker! Any reason to why you’re in such good spirits today?” A suave, charismatic voice boomed throughout the room. On the monitor, Meta Knight could see a broad-shouldered man wearing orange glasses, a navy blue business suit, and had green hair. The man’s facial features seemed awfully familiar…

“Aw, it’s nothin’. Just happened to have hired a bunch of knights in our army. They seemed like the real deal! We saw them fighting yesterday going all  _ shwwwing _ and  _ BAM _ and **KABLOOEY!** A bunch of genuine knights  if ya ask me!” Dedede was still full of energy since the fight he saw yesterday. And whenever the no-good king was getting excited, he’d usually be plotting mischief at this hour. Just messin’ a little with the townsfolk, that’s all!

“A bunch of knights you say?” The suited man rubbed his buttcheek-shaped chin, thinking to himself. “Well, that sounds very interesting indeed! So then, what’ll it be from Nightmare Enterprise today, Triple D?”

Nightmare Enterprise? His outreach even reaches this remote planet? And worst of all, it seems like out of all people, they have connection to this country’s ruler! Meta Knight realized that getting close to the king and trying to defeat Nightmare at the same time would be _ much _ more complicated than he initially thought. He decided to stay a little longer, wanting to see what sort of “order” the king was about to make.

“Well then, uh…” Dedede’s slow noggin had to kick start a bit for ideas. “Y’know what, i’m in the mood for some lamb chop. How bout something that could bring me something from one of the cappy’s farms? Oh, but i want this monster to be able to hide in plain side so ain’t nobody be suspectin’ me!” Dedede felt proud of himself for coming up with that  _ brilliant _ plan himself.

The sleazy salesman punched in some numbers in his calculator, then showed the results. “Well, with a monster that complex, the costs won’t be cheap. Here’s the total, sire.” A massive number was shown on the salesman’s calculator, and Meta Knight couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no way anyone would spend that much just to cause trouble to some innocent farmers?

“Yeah yeah, jus’ put it in my tab” Dedede shrugged off the number with a lazy hand.

From the ceiling and the floor, emerged two parts of a machine. Jolts of electricity began forming on the upper half of the machine, which grew as large as thunderbolts. It was incredibly loud, and yet the whole thing is somehow kept a secret to the residents of Cappytown, let alone Dreamland. An electric ball formed between the two parts of the machine, which shifted it’s form to a type of creature not unfamiliar to the Midnight Star Warrior…

\-------

As if the king’s connection to Nightmare wasn’t enough to surprise Meta Knight, the very next morning was all a commotion. First, the townspeople have gone into a ruckus after all the sheep belonging to one of the farmer’s were gone, and the perpetrator was supposedly a giant octopus that was seen travelling to King Dedede’s castle, and now an unidentified flying object crash landed at the fields of the nearby Green Greens! If even the king is coming down to check what’s going on, it must be very serious. Meta Knight, Blade Knight and Sword Knight have also decided to visit the site of the crash.

Surrounding the crater of the crash site were various dreamlandians from the nearby towns, including Cappytown. Gossip and discussion were flying wildly about from people’s mouths to their ears. Well, if they had any. What is this thing? Where did it came from? Is this another one of the king’s antics? Will it kill us all? What’s going to be for lunch today?

The three knights excused themselves to pass through the packed crowd, and found themselves standing before the deep crater that was made from when the unidentified object, which was a yellow spaceship that was shaped like a star. It looked familiar, but Meta Knight didn’t want to make assumptions just yet. To nobody’s surprise, King Dedede and his lackey Escargoon foolishly slid down the crater to observe the spaceship at it’s center.

“Now then, whoever the hell you are, ain’t nobody crash landin’ on MY land and don’t pay for damage repercussions! Show yerself, ya snivellin’ coward!” King Dedede, with hammer in hand, dug through the rubble of the spaceship, with Escargoon just standing around doing nothing because he didn’t wanna risk being the first guy to go if whoever was in that vehicle turned out to be some scary space alien.

After moments of suspense pass, King Dedede finally managed to pull out the driver of the star-shaped spaceship.

“Sir…” Sword Knight tapped on Meta’s shoulder with horrifying realization. “Isn’t that…” 

The driver of the UFO was someone who seemed to be a very young child. He was round, pink, with stubby little arms and big red feet. He had big, bright blue eyes and was utterly confused of the current situation around him. No, it couldn’t be…why is he here? He’s not supposed to even be awake yet, let alone be on the same planet as the veteran soldier! But there was no mistaking it…

Was that...Kirby?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so dumb note in the future: I actually went back and change a few minor things, including a """twist""" at the end. It's a stupid change and i'm sure some of you who have already seen the previous ver will make the ""twist"" obsolete, but it just bothered me a lot. Sorry!
> 
> edit 17-04-2019: Fixed some typos and wording


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending some time as a Knight of the King Dedede, Meta Knight finds time to sit down with the king to have some tea time together. He realizes the king might be a lot less agreeable than he initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry this chapter took so long to finish, i was going through some national exams earlier and still had school after that, so finding time to write more was kinda hard, so i did procastinate a lot ;;
> 
> I can't guarantee anything but, i'll try to upload a little more often now that i have more free time!
> 
> Also, i'm gonna add this to the first chapter's notes, but for those of you picking up where you last left off, this fanfiction's universe is a combination of the anime+games, with the anime being a prequel. As such, some events will have some differences with the canon, but i might also deviate a little from both canons.
> 
> Stick around for the end notes for a cool titbit!

Over the past few weeks, Meta Knight has been observing the Star Warrior awaken 200 years too early, and he was surprisingly impressed by his capabilities. On the day that Kirby crash landed onto Popstar, he defeated the culprit of the missing sheep of the farmers, which was the octopus monster the king ordered from Nightmare Enterprise. And how did he do it? By inhaling the flame attacks that the monster flung at him, and transforming into a fire-headed warrior who used the monsters attacks against him! It was a technique nothing like Meta Knight has seen before, not even among his Star Warrior comrades from many different planets far and wide. He wasn’t sure how or why the child was even this strong, but he knew the child had great potential hidden within him that would make him a fine Star Warrior. Was this the manifestation of his wish desiring for a new hope?

If so, then it was Meta Knight’s duty to mentor Kirby and train him to be a Star Warrior. He couldn’t risk Kirby getting too attached for him, or vice versa. Otherwise, Kirby wouldn’t be able to focus with his training, especially in this state, when Kirby is still a very young child who’s thoughts are clouded with eating and sleeping all day. It was bizarre to think that such a young child could easily slay the monsters from Nightmare, no matter how many of them the king sends to take down Kirby.

Understandably, King Dedede has not been happy over the recent turn of events.

“No, no, no, NO!” His loud shouts echoed throughout the whole castle. “I jus’ can’t seem to do ANYTHING with that stupid pink soap bar! NOTHIN’ is workin’, whether it’s your machines, the monsters i ordered, or both of em’ combined! I ain’t expecting your useless crap to actually  _ work,  _ Escargoon, but i was expecting SOMETHIN’ better from the Enterprise! I jus’... want that Kirby to STOP MAKIN’ A FOOL OF MYSELF!” The king has been throwing a tantrum over this the whole morning. Escargoon, a little hurt by his majesty’s comment, has tried to calm him down, but to no avail. All he was met by was more beatings from the king’s fists or his hammer. Eventually, Dedede stormed off, probably out to stress-eat. Marching angrily across the halls, he passed by that knight that he hired a few weeks back.

“Good afternoon, your Majesty.” Meta Knight calmly said. He’s gathered enough information about the king so  that now memorized his daily schedule. By now, it was time for the king’s teatime. “Are you having a rough day?”

Dedede stopped, and turned around. “WHAT IS I- oh, aren’t ya the new recruit? The one who got into a fight in the mess hall?” 

Meta Knight was a little uncomfortable with the idea that the king has been watching his every step since then, but nevertheless he had to continue with his plan. “Yes, indeed i am, sire. Once again, i thank you for your hospitality for taking us in.”

“Nawwww it was nothin’! I just knew y’all were fightin’ for a noble cause!” King Dedede’s mood has already pulled a complete 180. He realized he and the gallant knight haven’t talked before ever since the fight, so he was very excited. 

“Soooooo are ya up to somethin’ right now? Maybe you’re on a secret mission to defeat whatever enemies Dreamland might have?” Dedede leaned in rather closely and whispered as if there was any sort of secret to be kept at all. In return, Meta Knight leaned back a little because this guy doesn’t seem to be familiar with the concept of personal space.

“Well, since it is already 3 o’ clock, if i may, your Majesty,  i was wondering if i could join you for teatime.” Meta Knight said, still trying to back off a little.

It took everything inside him for Dedede to contain his excitement, and even then he wasn’t good at hiding it anyway. “Teatime? With  _ you _ ? Well, i’d be totally honored! I’ll call the waddle dee servants to prepare somethin’ and we’ll just hang out at the place where i always have teatime and enjoy a little snack! Follow me!” King Dedede started walking rather quickly. He had considerable speed and strength and even some brains if he put his mind to something he’s focused in.

After walking down the hallway shouting at Waddle Dees to tell them to prepare some light grub and Dedede’s favourite tea, the two climbed a few flights of stairs before they reached an arched window door that led to a rather wide balcony. From such a high spot, you could view the entirety of Cappy Village, and even some of the silhouettes of the nearby villages. A somewhat small table with two chairs have already been prepared, and Dedede eagerly sat down first without waiting for his guest to follow suit. Not long after, the food and drinks came. Today’s menu were chocolate eclairs and peppermint tea.

“So uhh...What was your name again? Sometimes it takes a while for my noggin’ to jog mah memories” Dedede was so excited that even the basic details had escaped him.

“As i have mentioned before, my name is Sir Meta Knight.” This person can’t be serious right? He somehow has been watching him and yet despite obviously being so starstruck he can’t remember Meta’s name? He’s already been here for several weeks now...

“Oh yeah! So then...Sir Meta Knight, why did you come here? I mean i know why ya came here but why did ya come here?  Where do ya come from? What were your duties as a knight? What sort of knightly things did ya used to do? Why do ya wear that mask all the time? Can i see what’s underneath it? What’s your favorite food? Why are you so cool? Where are your other knight friends? Are you guys The Three Mooskaters?”

Too. Many. Questions. And a lot of them are personal too. Meta Knight noticed how Dedede was already gripping the table pretty hard, and leaning forward quite far. This guy  _ really  _ had no concept of personal space and information. Meta Knight began thinking twice on his strategy to praise up the king a lot.

Meta collected himself and cleared his throat. “Let me start by answering one of your questions. I knew of this place because of how it was mentioned in some ancient scriptures i have read. The reason i am here, as mentioned before, is because Popstar is under a large potential threat, and i would like to help stop it before that happens.”

“A great threat? You mean something like dat dere Kirby?”

Meta Knight was rather offended, to be honest. “Sire, what is it that you have against Kirby?” he asked.

“Come on, ya seen for yourself how powerful dat kid is! Every time i or- i mean, a monster attacks the town, Kirby is able to take them down no matter how big or tough they are, by somehow gaining superpowers that coulda conveniently take them down! That kid is a menace, i tell ya, you’ll never know what he’s hidin’ up his sleeve! He’s pretty darn suspicious if ya ask me, so that’s the kind of threat you’re talkin’ about right?”

This so-called king was unbelievable with how self-unaware he was, and he’s not even good with hiding lies either. To him, he biggest threat to this town, and perhaps to his planet, was  _ not _ the monarch connected to a dangerous company that supplies deadly monsters? Meta Knight really wanted to call the king out, but he remembers he has to hold back so not to blow up his cover. He decides to see where this conversation goes.

“Well, yes sire. I would agree that someone like Kirby could be a potential threat if left unchecked. However, the threat that looms over Dreamland is far worse than that, i’m afraid.” Meta Knight spoke calmly. If there was one thing he was good at, it was hiding his emotions.

“Nawwwww i wouldn’t be afraid if i were you! I mean you got that cool sword, you’ve got the chops and the skills and the style. I mean if i were that big bad guy, i’d also be cowering away from you! I mean, you seem to be pretty smart, you’ve got a plan right? I’ll finally get to see your fighting skills in action?  You’ll take down this guy and that guy and that guy!” Dedede plays make-believe, as Meta Knight notes that Dedede seems to be a child trapped in the body of a middle aged man. 

“I appreciate your enthusiasm and your support, sire, but as i have observed, your army in it’s current state is too under-equipped to fight against this massive threat, due to lacking modern weapons and artillery.”

“Whaddya mean, my soldiers can’t take on any threat? But i got you on my side!” Dedede haughtily said as crumbs from the eclair flew out of his mouth. “But ya know, if it’s coming from you, maybe ya got a point…is there anything i could possibly help out with?”

Wait a minute, this can’t be that easy...right? Meta Knight just realized that the king hasn’t even asked what this threat is. “Sire? You actually want to help?”

“Well yeah! I may like messin with the townsfolk here, but i’d do anything in my power to help out a gallant knight vanquish evil! It would look good on the history books too. So, if there’s anything ya need, you can ask me anytime!”

“Wait...sire, you... ” Meta Knight was cautious. He’s seen how stingy the king is with sharing, but if this childish king’s nosey and starstruck behavior towards him was any indication on what Meta Knight could request of him…

“As i have mentioned, we must increase our artillery in order to have a chance against the enemy. I have the plans to build a large flying battleship that will be packed with cannons and will be able to fly a large distance. If you may permit me, all i need now is the funding from you, sire.”

“Well if that’s all ya need then you can count on me! Take as much as ya need, as long as i get to see ya in action i’d be fine makin’ a huge investment!” Dedede laughed. He thought that if push came to shove he could always demand for higher taxes, so he can help fund Meta Knight’s military ventures  _ and _ still be able to order off NME.

“Ya know, i’m glad i made the right choice in hiring you. But if ya can take out that pesky pink puffball instead of helping him out, that’d be even better, ya know?” Dedede winked at Meta Knight in the least subtle way possible.

It was weird to Meta Knight that the king would go great lengths just to defeat Kirby, and was still unable to drop his one-sided rivalry with him, but it was a relief that it didn’t took long for the king to approve the funding of the planned battleship. Still, he had to remember that the king was a subscriber to Nightmare Enterprise, and frequently bought monsters off them that would harm the village. He still needed to keep a lookout. He thanked the king, then excused himself, as now he had to inform Sword and Blade Knight of his progress and start the project.

\--------

Later that night, Meta Knight heard yelling from outside his room. He instinctively grabbed his sword and opened his door a little bit to see what was going on. The waddle dee soldiers were running around frantically, so Meta Knight ran outside his room and looked to both sides of the hallways. From the darkness, emerged horrifying bat-like creatures that seem to be targeting and attacking anything they saw, which in this case were the waddle dee soldiers and knights that were trying to either defend themselves and run away. The monsters had wrinkly skin that had the color of a dirty pink or purple. They had short hind legs with sharp talons, large bat-like wings and a tail that was twice as long as the main body, and long horns. But the most striking and terrifying feature of these monsters was the main body. It was round and short, and had no facial features other than a large gaping mouth that looked more like a deep void of ahole than a mouth, which could easily swallow a head whole. To him, the monsters resembled...no, it was not the time to think about that, these flesh-hungry monsters had to be stopped.

A loud screech echoed throughout the hall, and one of the bat-like monsters flew straight at Meta Knight, it’s talons stretched out, about to claw it’s potential target, but Meta Knight countered it with his sword just in time. The monster wouldn’t let go of it’s grip, so the knight was forced to use the claws from his own wings to stab it. Writhing in pain, the monster backed off of Meta Knight for a moment before it charged at him again, only for it to be met by an upslash of the Galaxia, slicing the body in half.

There were still more of the monsters that had to be taken out. Sword and Blade Knight were sparring against the monsters, but to Meta’s surprise, the punkish, rude knights that the the three of them fought at the mess hall when they first came were fighting alongside them as well. The warriors were in a defensive position, watching each other’s backs and the scared Waddle Dees behind them as their weapons clashed against the talons of the monsters.

“Everyone! Their wings and talons may be strong, but the body is it’s weak point! Try and aim for those!” Meta Knight called out as he ran towards the crowd, preparing to clash his sword. The knights knew what to do. Using Mace Knight and Axe Knight as (unwilling) stepping stones, Blade Knight and Sword Knight attacked from above and sliced two monsters in half. Axe Knight was more prepared this time, as now he had brought multiple axes to throw that he had hidden under his helmet somehow. Attacking them up close would be too difficult and risky, so instead he opted to throw his axes at them, a strategy that he carried out gleefully. 

As the bat monsters starting falling one by one, the colony of bat monsters became enraged and started to act more aggressive. From the gaping holes of their body, they sucked in a great deal of air in order to bring their foes closer so they can eat them up. Using Mace Knight’s Big, heavy and  bulky body and Trident Knight’s jetpacks, they tried to push back the warriors and the Waddle Dees from getting sucked in by the monsters. Mace Knight acted quick. He pulled out his signature weapon, with the spiked ball on the end of the chain initially being pulled towards the gaping monsters. But with his immense strength, he was able to fight against the wind current, and swung his mace with enough momentum that struck the remaining bat monsters in the room, killing them all.

The corpses of the monsters disintegrated into dust. No more screeches could be heard. The room was now eerily quiet, with lots of debris from the destruction and terrified, even injured Waddle Dees everywhere. The Waddle Dees were huddling with each other, so scared out of their wits that their orange hue became a bit paler.

“Go and find your other friends, and clean up the castle. Everything is going to be alright.” Meta Knight reassured the scared little soldiers. His work here, however, wasn’t done yet. He had to go down and check the town, there could be more of those monsters attacking the villagers. He ran his way towards the castle’s exit without haste, and the other knights were right behind him.

\------------

Cappy Town was in chaos. The flying monsters were everywhere, terrorizing the poor villagers who were just looking for a good night’s rest. Like before, the monsters were either attacking the roofs or the cappies’ heads with their sharp talons, or trying to suck up the environment in order to bring their potential prey closer and eat them. Nobody knew how to handle monsters this hostile. Not even Kirby, who was running around trying to avoid the monsters from attacking him. Unfortunately for the young puffball, he couldn’t use his inhale ability on them because the monsters too, had a similar ability as him.

Not long after, Meta Knight and the rest of the warriors came to the rescue. Left and right they were able slice down the bodies of the monsters, barely rescuing the citizens from becoming the monster’s late night snack. But in the middle of combat, the midnight-cloaked warrior glanced quickly at Kirby. He was intimidated, trying his best to defend himself, but utterly confused with what to do.

This isn’t good, Meta Knight thought to himself. Kirby so far was able to take down individual monsters, even those much larger than him, and he was able to take down multiple enemies if they were smaller in size. But these monsters... they were quite large, and all equal in power. This situation is something Kirby hasn’t encountered before, but perhaps if he could help him out just a little bit…

Wait! Nearby Kirby’s position was Kawasaki’s restaurant! Perhaps there’s something from his kitchen utensils that could be of use. Meta Knight immediately dashed into the restaurant, but it didn’t take long for one of the monsters to follow him into the building. Meta Knight managed to avoid the monster crashing into various corners of the dining area, entered the kitchen, and instinctively grabbed a knife. Then, he flew outside through a window and up high, where the monsters won’t be able to sense him for a little bit because they were all focused on the grounded citizens.

“Kirby! Inhale this!” he threw the knife at Kirby, and the young warrior knew what to do. He inhaled the knife despite nearly being inhaled himself by the monsters. A bright glow engulfed Kirby’s body, and he became...Sword Kirby!

To the monster behind him who was trying to inhale Kirby itself, the puffball turned around and sliced it in half. Then, he raised his sword in the air, and a bright light glowed from the sword.  Aiming carefully, Kirby swung his sword towards a line of monsters, releasing a special attack, Sword Beam. 

But despite Kirby’s newly enhanced abilities, it wasn’t long before he was once again overwhelmed by the number of his enemies. Quick to act, after Meta Knight took down a few more monsters on top of the restaurant’s roof, he slid down to help Kirby out. Seeing how Meta Knight was utilizing both his sword and his kicks, Kirby imitated the veteran warrior. Then, Meta Knight ordered the rest of the knights to split up and search through the village to take out any remaining monsters that was in sight of the terrified Cappy citizens. As the number of monsters were dwindling, Kirby and Meta Knight climbed onto the roof of one of the houses and took down the last monster that seemed to be the colony leader, with one final attack; a dual sword beam that sliced the monster into four pieces, before disintegrating into dust like the rest of it’s fallen species.

As the horrors of the night were finally defeated, dawn broke. Thankfully, nobody suffered any major injuries. Everyone was tired from the lack of sleep after fending off the monsters, and wanted to go back to bed afterwards, though unfortunately, some of them aren’t able to after the monsters had ravaged or even completely destroy some of their houses.

“Thank you Kirby, you did very well today.” Meta Knight ruffled the head of the little star warrior in training. Though Kirby was tired, he was still smiling after everything that had happened. Nothing seems to ever phase this child. But Meta Knight looked into Kirby’s innocent eyes, and a sinking feeling of fear struck his heart. If this wasn’t even the worse that Nightmare had to offer, then Kirby was far from ready to fight against Nightmare. It didn’t help that even after all this time on Popstar, Meta Knight  _ still _ hasn’t been able to find the elusive Star Rod. He looked to Castle Dedede not far off in the distance, and just barely caught a glimpse of the king and his lackey on the balcony, turning around to head inside.

Meta Knight was furious. That pathetic excuse of a king dared to order a huge colony of dangerous monsters that potentially could kill some of the citizens of one of the villages he ruled over, and for what? To defeat Kirby? To pull some twisted prank on  _ his _ citizens? Whatever it was, this was where he drew the line. 

The masked warrior slid down the roof to rendezvous with Blade and Sword Knight. He whispered to them, “The construction of the Halberd must be quickly completed, before His Majesty’s idiotic antics level the entire town.”

“But Sir,” Asked Sword Knight. “What about the Star Rod? What about Kirby’s training?”

“It’s been weeks now, and we still haven’t found any new leads to the Star Rod’s whereabouts, and Kirby isn’t ready. We need to prioritize on a currently attainable, clear goal, and we have no time to lose.” Meta Knight said in a harsh tone with a hint of panic, then turned around to hastily return to the castle. The masked knight’s followers were worried, but they had sworn loyalty to him no matter the cost. Right behind them, the ragtag knights of the king’s army had followed suit, for they now wanted to follow in the footsteps of the masked warrior.

The revolution was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 18-04-2019: I FORGOT TO MENTION! Originally i was going to take a monster from one of the episodes, but that meant i had to sync the events of this chapter with that episode, and it would have been too difficult. I'm not creative enough to come up with a new monster, so instead i borrowed an idea from Shinya Kumazaki's art gallery, the creatures based on his painting, "Flying". Go check out his work!: http://kumayou.halfmoon.jp/gallery/cg/newgallery/image-8.jpg
> 
> Edit 02-05-2019: I have decided i am going to finish the entire fic first before i will post again, just for the sake of relieving my anxiety hhh. It might take a while so i apologize!


	4. Chapter 4

Dedede didn’t doubt the capabilities of his new knight recruits at all, oh no! In fact, he was already a fan of them from the beginning after their battle in the mess hall. But there was a part of him that was unsatisfied. He wanted to see more. He wanted to see more fighting, more action, more cool tricks and fighting strategies that these fighters come up with on the fly. To him, it wasn’t enough that this knight only takes on enemies weaker than himself, or simply stand and watch while that stupid pink bath bomb does all the work and eliminates yet another expensive monster that Dedede ordered off NME. No, he wanted to see that knight fight for his life, maybe even fight to defend the citizens from a matter of life and death. The urgency! The suspense! The thrills! Dedede wanted to see that Meta Knight just barely hanging on to his life, only to triumph at the last second and bring honor to the people! It would just be like the fairytales that the castle servants used to read to him as a child, but actualized in reality!

And what better way to push the limits of his prided knights than to create a real scenario where the people of a village are in real danger? Dedede hurried down the stairs, excited thinking of what sort of monster he should order and what sort of mayhem he can create. Earlier today, Meta Knight was kind enough to invite him for tea time, where Dedede spared no time asking various questions to the knight shrouded in mystery. He was even willing to fund Meta Knight’s plans to build a battleship to strengthen the king’s army and protect Dreamland. Oh, how generous Dedede was! He was excited to see the fully finished project of the battleship, but that excitement can only last for so long, and King Dedede was an impatient king. He wanted to see Meta Knight’s knightly ventures  _ now. _

Dedede sat on his mechanical throne once again and pressed one of the buttons to his side. A part of the ceiling opened to reveal a giant screen. It took only a split second for the screen to boot up and show the face of a familiar salesman with classy shades.

“Why hello Triple-D! How can i help ya today?” The salesman clapped his hands together excited to greet his regular, for he was aiming to continue his streak of the highest sales again this month.

“So hey, you remember when i told you about that cool knight i hired some time ago?”

“Yes, what about him, sir?”

“Here’s the deal. I wanna test this guy’s capabilities to the max. I wanna see if he can take down the toughest of the tough! So, i want a large number of strong monsters that can cause some ruckus around here, so my knight can fight them in an epic duel! It’s gon’ be so much fun!” Dedede was already rocking back and forth in his throne like a child in a candy store.

“So, let me get this straight. You want us to provide monsters just so that knight of yours can defeat them? But why? Doesn’t Kirby already does that on a daily basis?” the salesman questioned snarkily.

“Don’t ya talk back at ya customers like that! I’ve already had enough of that squeaky toy foilin’ every single one of my plans! Even if this time around i ain’t plannin’ to get rid of him, It’s about time i had a change of pace. Besides, if you can send me a horde of strong enough monsters, that pink punk wouldn’t be able to handle that many. Only a truly skilled warrior like my knight can! Now, send me your worst!”

“Well, if you say so sir, but just so you know we can’t provide a refund for damaged goods if you intentionally tamper or destroy our products.” said the salesman, though it’s not like his company ever follows through with their refunds anyway.

“It won’t be different than any other transaction i make. Just be grateful i’m a lot more willin’ to pay this time. Just put the bill in mah tab as usual.”

“Alright then sir, may we interest you in one of our latest products, the Dragula?” The salesman presented a sample picture of the monster on-screen. 

“It is the latest in our long line of genetic experimentations. The Dragula’s most striking feature is the gaping black hole on it’s body, where it can suck in enemies with a strong gust of wind in order to devour them. It’d be nice to give that there Kirby a taste of his own medicine, no?”

“PERFECT!” Dedede was filled with enough excitement that he bothered to get out of his chair. “This way, it’ll be too difficult for that cake pop to take em all down, leaving the fightin’ to my knights! Send em over, i want as many of them as you can provide!”

The top and bottom parts of the monster transporter emerged from the ceiling and the floor. The machine jolted to life, and formed a electric ball that signaled the near arrival of the Dragulas. Excitement and fear stirred in Dedede’s chest, but despite his better judgement telling him to stand back, he took one step forward, and another, and another.

Suddenly, from the jolt of electricity, a horde of winged pink monsters with a large gaping hole on each of their bodies quickly flew from the transporter, and quickly swarmed the immediate area. Dedede had to duck, his heart was racing, but he couldn’t believe he was experiencing such amazing thrill of potentially being in danger from these dangerous bloodthirsty demons. Some of the monsters darted to the halls, some remained in the room, still flying around and screeching, but what caught Dedede’s attention the most were the ones who broke out the windows and went outside towards the nearby Cappy Town.

“Now this is where tha fun starts!” Dedede got up and ran through the halls, trying to avoid bumping into Waddle Dees or getting clawed by the Dragula’s talons. As he was running, he managed to quickly grab Escargoon’s arm as he was being attacked by the monsters.

“Sire, what the hell did you do?! What did you order?!” yelled Escargoon praying that Dedede gripped his arm tight enough.

“We’re going upstairs to the balcony. I want to see that Meta Knight and those other two guys fight off these pink winged things, whatever you call ‘em.” Dedede said as he kept running without looking back”

“Are you  _ NUTS?! _ We have to go to the safe bunker in the basement! I ain’t gonna watch this bizarre spectacle if it means i’ll potentially get killed!”

“We’ll be fine, we’re gon’ barricade the doors when we get there. Unless ya want me to leave you here for these guys’ midnight snack?” Dedede smirked back at Escargoon.

The king was crazy and unpredictable, but his servant wouldn’t risk going to the bunker all on his own, not when the situation is like this. “No! NO! I don’t wanna die! Let’s just get outta here, please!” He cried for mercy while running even faster now, to the point he’s now ahead of Dedede.

“That’s the spirit!” Dedede cheered, now a bit more relieved that someone else was pulling his weight.

Once the two Saturday morning cartoon villains reached the balcony and quickly barricaded it with the nearest tables and chairs they could find (though Escargoon was unsure whether or not this would be effective at all, considering the terrifying power of the Dragulas, especially when they can suck up objects like Kirby can).

Dedede pulled a pair of binoculars from his red coat and looked at how Cappy Town was holding up. He imagined an epic duel between the knights and the monsters, iron clashing and both warrior and beast hanging onto life as their bodies are slashed, and that’s exactly what he got! Not long after he reached the balcony, the knights came to the rescue of the townspeople. They seem to have adapted quickly to the monsters as they were all taking down many of the Dragulas left and right. Dedede kept his eyes glued on the masked night with the dark blue cloak. He was the one doing the most fighting. Dedede wonders why his other knight subjects bothered to come along at all.

Dedede then looked around the town some more and found something amusing. Kirby was clearly struggling to fight against the Dragulas. No matter where he ran, there was always another one of those winged demons blocking his path or right behind him. He was looking  scared and cowardly. 

“Hah! That’ll teach him! Now he won’t bother Meta Knight while he keeps fighting the good fight!” Dedede chuckled.

“The “good” fight...that you started.” Escargoon grumbled. He constantly kept looking back at the barricaded door, terrified in case those demons with the gaping holes came back for them to finish the job.

“Stop actin’ like a pussy. It’s nice to get the status quo flipped on its head here every once in a while” Dedede threw another punch at Escargoon.

“Wait a minute, sire, look!” Escargoon looked through his binoculars again and pointed somewhere. Dedede looked through his binoculars as well.

Meta Knight was flying just above Kawasaki’s restaurant, holding a knife in hand, and proceeded to throw it at Kirby. He saw the young star warrior instinctively inhale the knife and transform into Sword Kirby.

“No...NO! Ya weren’t supposed to have that wretched dodgeball help out! I wanted the spotlight to stay on YOU ya stupid, but awesome knight!” Dedede unleashed his fury by  throwing his binoculars to the ground and punching the wall. Escargoon was relieved he wasn’t the nearest target at the time, but what the hell kind of insult was that?

Escargoon looked back to his binoculars. “I must say sire, the synergy between them is pretty awesome to watch, though”\

“Wait…huh?” he picked up his binoculars again, and looked at the current action that was raging on. Alright, fine. He does admit that it was satisfying seeing Kirby and Meta Knight slash through the hordes of dragulas together and watching each other’s back, which they finished off with a sword beam that slashed through the largest of the dragulas into four pieces.

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH YOU DID IT!” Dedede whooped. Escargoon had to cover over the king’s mouth, since he didn’t want to give any indication that they were responsible for this mess. Dedede turned around, satisfied that he was able to see that knight’s full potential in a real battle situation. With warriors like that, who needs to worry about some vague threat that terrorizes people’s dreams? Boy, he sure was glad he took the chance to hire them a few weeks ago! 

But now, the king was tired. He let out a long and wide yawn that subjected Escargoon to his nasty breath. Oh, dawn has come now, hasn’t it? Perhaps Dedede could sleep in all day and have a big dinner later when he wakes up.

But as the king turned around, he wasn’t aware of the knight he admired, glaring daggers at him. He had no idea how much of a threat the knight had considered him, whether through his incompetence and irrationality, or his unfortunate connections.

Time passed by as usual. Weeks quickly turned into months. Dedede’s short temper led him to order more monsters, leading to more shenanigans in Cappytown, but Kirby would always defeat them in the end. Sometimes, Dedede would throw a tantrum in the aftermath. Their one-way rivalry, if you could even call it one, continued on.

But unbeknownst to the King, somewhere deep under the castle, the construction of a very large, and potentially very deadly weaponized airship was being built. Thanks to Meta Knight’s local fame among the knights as a fearsome and formidable warrior through word of mouth, more of the king’s knights joined his side, and his cause. There were even some citizens who joined the army because their friends told them how awesome Meta Knight was. The masked warrior was able to recruit more people to help build the Halberd airship, as he called it, from scratch, which was no easy task. But alongside that, he was also able to train the army to become more adept at using weapons. Of course, these warriors were nowhere at the same level as the Star Warriors that Meta Knight fought alongside with, but they were in much better shape than when Meta had first saw them.

Among his new allies was  Captain Vul , who served in the army of a neighboring country. Although for some reason, he is now here working together with a knight of a different country. Though, Meta Knight didn’t ask any questions, he was just happy to have someone competent on board, as time was running short.

Vul and Meta Knight laid the blueprints of the Halberd before them.

“In order to save time, there were some adjustments I had to make. So, I wasn’t able to fulfill all of the things I wanted to do with it, but according to my calculations, the ship should still be functional enough to fly and well-equipped enough to defeat any large or foreign threats”

“Sir Meta Knight, may i ask why you seem so rushed to finish this project?” Vul observed the blueprints, curiously tracing his finger over the planned features of the ship that were crossed out with red X’s. “I am aware of this…threat of “nightmarish proportions” you spoke to us of, but that would only mean there’s a bigger risk for us if we leave out some of the artillery we planned to add to the ship”

“We will never know when the enemy will strike us. You, as a captain, should know this more than anyone”. Meta Knight said with a dark tone, and Vul could sense the faintest bit of fear from his voice. This was the tone of a man who had been experienced in war, unlike Vul, who has never had to deal with even the possibility of war or foreign invasion for as long as he served his country, or even for as long as he lived.

“Besides, I realized that some of the initial plans I made could have possibly been unnecessary and was there more so that i could possibly intimidate the enemy” Meta Knight tried to calmly reassure himself, though as if NME out of all people would be intimidated by a ship that’s barely the size of the enterprise’s smallest Destroya ships.

“Well, I do hope that you’re right...” Vul said, though truthfully, neither of them were sure if this was even going to work.

“So, when will the Halberd be finished? And when do you think we’re able to test it?” Vul asked again in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“We will finish construction next month. Once we are finished, we will immediately test it by flying over Grape Garden, then we will turn around and...commence our attack on the King”

“Hold on, YOU WANT TO TAKE DOWN KING DEDEDE?” Meta Knight’s plan left Vul’s beak hanging open. 

“I believe the king is far too incompetent to run this country. Not to mention his direct connections to NME will continue to endanger the people. If I somehow manage to overthrow him, i could possibly get more people to join my side and have me train them to go up against Nightmare.” Meta Knight felt a little bit weird of the idea of him being the new king of Dreamland to replace the old one, but if it’s to defeat Nightmare, then so be it. Besides, he began liking the idea a little more as he kept pondering about the possibility.

“Ooh...i like your way of thinking. From my observations, I’ve always thought Dreamland was a wild, perhaps almost lawless place because of him, so to finally take down the root of the problem here would be quite interesting~” Vul began to snicker at the idea.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, or any of the workers, a young girl had discovered their secret, and immediately knew who she had to warn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .........HI
> 
> IM BACK AGAIN....AFTER ABANDONING THIS THING SINCE APRIL
> 
> And uh...no, i didn't end up finishing it before i uploaded this chapter like i promised. What happened was that for some time, my interest in Kirby dropped and i was distracted by Jojo. Also, college started. But now, i'm slowly starting to lean back to Kirby lore again, and i may be able to manage my time a little better when it comes to finding time to write but uh...no promises.
> 
> At the very least though, i still remember how the whole story was going to go, since i had the basic plot written down. I hope i could at least finish this! Though, i'm still not very confident in my writing style, so feedback is greatly appreciated!


End file.
